Courage Campaign, California Labor Federation Call On Attorney General To Investigate Republicans On Vote-Trading
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 11, 2009
CONTACT: Aidan Crawford, Rick Jacobs – (323) 969-0160
Courage Campaign, California Labor Federation Call On Attorney General To Investigate Republicans On Vote-Trading
More Than 6,000 Sign Petitions Urging Attorney General to Investigate Reports of Illegal Vote Trading by Republicans on the Budget
SACRAMENTO, February 11, 2009 – Based on persistent reports that Republicans in the Legislature are trading their votes on an urgently needed state budget for votes on completely unrelated matters, the Courage Campaign today delivered more than 6,000 petitions urging Attorney General Jerry Brown start an investigation into Republican vote-trading and bring charges if appropriate.
“Illegal is illegal. The California Penal Code explicitly prohibits this kind of vote-trading and the Attorney General is duty-bound to investigate this felonious activity.” said Rick Jacobs, founder and chair of the California-based 500,000-member Courage Campaign. “But Republicans, whose oath to anti-tax extremists supersedes their oath to the constitution, seem to be ignoring the law. If they want to rollback environmental and worker protections — which aren’t connected to the budget — they should do their jobs as legislators and write up a bill and have an honest debate. This should not be tolerated.”
Last week, labor and environmental leaders sent a letter to the Attorney General formally requesting an immediate investigation into these allegations.
“It’s shameful that Republicans are holding the budget hostage in an attempt to decimate vital workplace and environmental protections,” added Steve Smith, director of communications at the California Labor Federation.
Section 86 of the California Penal Code states: “Every Member of either house of the Legislature…who asks, receives, or agrees to receive, any bribe, upon any understanding that his or her official vote, opinion, judgment, or action shall be influenced thereby…or offers or promises to give, any official vote in consideration that another Member of the Legislature shall give this vote either upon the same or another question…is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years and, in cases in which no bribe has been actually received, by a restitution fine.”
Several newspapers have reported Republicans in the legislature are refusing to vote for a budget unless Democrats agree to eliminate meal and rest breaks for workers and stop the fight against global warming. The Los Angeles Times reported on February 1, 2009 that “although such policies are not directly connected to the budget… the state’s requirement that budget be approved by two-thirds of the Legislature gives the minority Republicans leverage.” And the San Diego Union Tribune reported on January 27, 2009 that “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now finds himself under pressure from fellow Republicans demanding that he weaken the state’s broader greenhouse-gas laws as part of any deal to solve the budget crisis.”
The Courage Campaign is an online organizing network that empowers nearly 400,000 grassroots and netroots activists to push for progressive change in California.
Whether it’s helping kill the GOP’s electoral college initiative “dirty trick,” count the infamous “double bubble” votes in Los Angeles after Super Tuesday, or push for the ultimate closure of the “yacht tax loophole,” the Courage Campaign has waged many successful campaigns.
Rick Jacobs is the founder and chair of the Courage Campaign. He chaired Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in California. He is also the co-founder of Brave New Films and a featured contributor to Arianna Huffington’s Huffingtonpost.com. Rick has an extensive background as an international investor and senior executive.